For Kit's Sake
by Proforce
Summary: An incident at Kit's school sets in motion a chain of events that could tear the entire Higher for Hire family apart. Do Rebecca and Baloo have the strength to keep everything together?
1. A Bad Break

"For Kit's Sake"  
Authors: Robert Brown

Disclaimer: This story uses characters created and copyrighted by Disney (except where noted, in which case they were created and copyrighted by us or by another and we have permission to use them). The authors hereby give permission for this story to be downloaded and/or printed at 1 copy per user as long as (1) no changes to the story are made without our express written(not e-mailed) permission and (2) no attempt is made to profit from this story. If either or both rules are violated, it will be considered a violation of copyright law.

Author's Note: Hello everyone. That's right, it's another oneshot! I do apologize to all the fans waiting for Francis and I to produce another story in one of the major three storylines(Sonic, Rescue Rangers, and Pokémon), but doing these oneshots gets some of the clutter out of my brain so it can focus on the other stuff. At least my oneshots have been mostly well-received. We shall not talk about the Biker Mice from Mars one. Ever. Till next time everyone, Happy Reading!

Chapter 1: A Bad Break

A nervous bead of sweat ran down the back of Kit's neck. The decision he was about to make could very well decide his fate for the next few years. If he chose right he would guarantee himself the cheers and adulations of his peers. If he chose wrong, he would face their scorn. The time was now, his choice was made!

He casually trotted back to second base as the pitcher delivered his pitch, a high fastball. His instincts had served him well again. That was the worst possible pitch to steal on, especially if you were trying to steal third. He didn't set a new mark for base stealing at the school by making mistakes like that.

He adjusted his cap to block out the sun's glare and re-checked the scoreboard. Bottom of the ninth, one out, tie game. His team had begun their half of the inning with a solo home run, tying the game and giving them a chance. The next batter had struck out looking. Kit had hit the ball solidly when it was his turn to bat, lining it just inside the foul line. He had made it to second base standing up, but a strong throw from the right fielder quickly stopped him from trying for a triple.

Kit sighed as the current batter called for time, stepping out of the batter's box. He was a big kid, a lion known for hitting the ball hard but also for aiming right at an outfielder. With him, it was either homerun or long fly out. But if Kit could get to third base, either one would win his team the game.

He narrowed his eyes, watching as the pitcher gripped and regripped the baseball. Kit was in the perfect position to see that he was holding the ball off the seams, a sure sign he was going to throw his change-up. Kit smiled to himself, taking a bigger lead than normal but leaning back toward second base as if he were not committed to the steal. The pitcher checked back at him, obviously worried about the potential steal. But when he saw how Kit was, he turned back to home plate and began his windup.

Kit took off right at that moment, running toward third base as hard as he could. He didn't know where the ball was or even if they'd seen him move. His full attention was focused on the battered and dusty white bag in his sights. He slid feet first when he was a yard away, only now looking up.

The kid on third base, a panther with a reputation of playing dirty, leapt to grab the ball fired at him from the catcher. There was no way he'd be able to tag Kit now. And with his speed, the game was as good as over. Unless.... It took only a split second for the feline to make his decision. After all, he did have a reputation to uphold.

Kit signalled to the teacher acting as umpire for time after he'd been called safe. He was already planning the best way to win this game for his class when his world suddenly exploded in white-hot pain. The panther had come down awkwardly, his cleated sneaker stomping down on Kit's extended leg. When he was able to think about it later, he would not be able to tell what happened first: the searing pain or hearing two distinct, sickening cracks. The only thing he was sure of was the satisfied smirk on the panther's lips before unconsciousness claimed him.

Some distance away, at a small little wooden building on the edge of the city that overlooked the massive cliffs that protected the city, two bears were engaged in one of their favorite pastimes: arguing. "You're being crazy Becky!" Baloo howled, slamming his fists down on his boss' desk. "There's no way I can keep to this cockamamie schedule of yours."

Rebecca leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms under her chest. "You can and you will Baloo," she said matter-of-factly with a self-satisfied smirk. "I've worked with you too long now to not know what you and my plane are capable of."

Baloo twisted his cap angrily in his hands. "You just had to get that dig in, didn't ya Beckers?" he growled, resisting the urge to launch her desk into the wall with one kick. In fact, the only thing that stopped him was her backhanded acknowledgment of his abilities.

Her smirk faded into a frown as she sat forward, placing her hands slowly on the desk. "Now look here Buster," she snapped, picking up the schedule and holding it in front of his face, "It is perfectly reasonable to expect you to make all three deliveries today and get back here by eight o'clock. It shouldn't even take you that long, but I'm giving you a little leeway since you don't have Kit here to navigate for you."

"Leeway?" he barked with a laugh. "C'mon now! There ain't enough time ta sneeze much less make a stop at Louie's--"

"Ah ha!" she crowed, shooting to her feet and shoving her finger in Baloo's nose. "That's what this is really about, isn't it? You just want to sneak away to Louie's while the cargo sits and rots! I'm on to you Baloo; there'll be no slacking off for you today." Baloo spluttered a bit, trying to figure out a comeback. When he couldn't, he smacked her hand away irritably and stomped off to load the Sea Duck.

Becky opened her mouth to take a parting shot at him, just to cement her victory further, but the phone rang. "Higher for Hire!" she sang into the receiver. "How may we help you?"

"Is Mr. Cloudkicker there?" a voice asked that Rebecca did not recognize.

"Mister...Cloudkicker?" she repeated, confused.

"Yes, this is Cape Suzette Elementary School calling about his son, Kit. We were given this number as his emergency contact information. Do I have the correct number?"

A cold pit opened up in Rebecca's stomach, but she covered it well with her professional demeanor. "Forgive me," she said, picking up a paperweight and throwing it at the back of Baloo's head to get his attention, "we are very informal here and I'm not used to referring to my best employee by his last name. Here is Baloo."

Baloo snatched the phone out of her hands and turned his back so he didn't have to see her mouthing off at him. "This is Baloo," he said, reaching under his hat to get at a spot that had been itching him all day. "What can I do ya fer?"

Rebecca had to grip her chair to keep from snatching the phone back and beating him over the head with it, but she knew that this was important. She could only hear Baloo's side of the conversation, and what she heard didn't sound good. When Baloo wasn't screaming into the phone for an explanation, his voice was soft and scared, something she had never heard from him before. But when she heard Baloo say the word "hospital", she knew right then that something bad had happened to Kit.

Despite the blossoming worry for Kit's well being, another emotion was fighting to come to the forefront. No matter how much she detested his work habits, Baloo was her friend and a good one at that. If someone had asked her when she first met him if this great oaf of a bear would become so near and dear to her, she would have recommended an immediate psychiatric evaluation. But now? Now she couldn't imagine her life without the big lug.

Her heart ached in sympathy for the pain he must be feeling. She wanted to do something to show him that she was there for him. But as she reached for his arm, he dropped the phone onto the floor and took off at a dead sprint. "Baloo!" she called, picking up the receiver and placing it in its cradle. "Baloo wait!"

"No time Beckers!" Baloo yelled, pausing as he got to the sidewalk to get his bearings. "Kit's in the hospital an' I gotta go!" "Wait a minute!" she repeated, hurrying after him but not before closing and locking the door behind her. "Baloo stop!"

Baloo rounded on her as she ran up to him, his large hands clenched into even larger fists. "If you even think about telling me that cargo's more important than my boy--" he growled at her before being cut off by a sharp slap across his face.

She stood there, her hand still extended, tears welling in the corners of her eyes as she looked at him. "How could you even accuse me of something like that?" she whispered, her voice laced with cold fury. "Don't you ever, ever do that again, do you hear me? It will be the last thing you ever do."

Even as blinded by anger and worry as he was, Baloo knew he had just crossed a very dangerous line. Sure he'd gotten her angry at him before, but he had never heard the raw pain and hate that was now present in her voice. "Sorry Becky," he mumbled, turning his face away in shame.

"I know you're worried about Kit," she said softly, absentmindedly rubbing the red mark she had left on his cheek, "but remember that I'm here to help you. Now come on," she added, surprising Baloo as she grabbed his arm, "let's grab a cab and get to the hospital."

"I ain't got no money to use on a cab," he grumbled, rubbing his face as his irritation returned.

"That's why I'm paying for it," she said, holding out her finger to hail a taxi. "But don't get used to this," she teased. Then, after thinking about it, she whispered almost too softly for him to hear, "unless it's for Kit."

Her words, both the teasing and the heartfelt, brought a wan smile to the pilot's face. "Aww, you ain't doing it right," he said gruffly, hiding a suspicious sniffle by rubbing his nose. "You just don't have the height to get the job done."

The ride to the hospital was among the longest in Baloo's life, ranking right up there with his mad flight from Louie's to Cape Suzette to save Kit from Don Karnage. Back then, it was all on him and his plane to get there in time; if he hadn't made it he'd had no one to blame but himself. But now the situation was out of his control. The damage was already done; there was nothing he could do.

To make matters worse, the school had been intentionally vague, only telling him that there had been some kind of incident involving Kit and that he was in the hospital. They said they were dealing with it, whatever "it" was. But not knowing was only making things worse on him. Rebecca sighed as Baloo fidgeted yet again. It was a tight enough fit to squeeze her petite body alongside his bulk into the back seat, but he seemed to be taking up more and more room with every squirm. If he didn't stop soon she'd be squished against the door! But he was too far gone to notice, his thoughts solely on their destination and the young bear who needed him. She reached out and placed a hand on his leg, hoping the contact would soothe him. It worked, relaxing Baloo without him even realizing it. Smiling, she left her hand where it was and turned to look out the cab's window, letting the familiar scenery flow by without even seeing it.

When the taxi pulled into the hospital driveway, Baloo nearly jumped out before it even stopped. The only thing that prevented him was Rebecca's grip on his leg fur, one that promised a lot of pain should he move before she released him. She calmly paid the driver the indicated fare, including a reasonable tip for getting them there quickly. Only after she opened her door did she let him go, but it was enough to let her block him from running into the hospital at full speed. "Outta my way Becky."

"Look Baloo," she said, still barring his way, "if you go running in there like an out-of-control gorilla-bird, they're gonna shove your furry butt in jail and I don't have the money to bail you out."

Baloo slammed his fist into the nearest wall but Rebecca didn't flinch. He knew she was right, he knew it. But knowing it didn't make it any easier to deal with. At least his mini-outburst had released enough of his anger to rein in his temper a little. "All right, fine," he muttered. "Now let me do all the talking," she said, turning around and pushing her way through the swinging doors. She marched up to the nurse's station where a middle-aged rabbit sat working her way through a stack of paperwork and folders. "Excuse me," Rebecca said politely, but loud enough to be heard over the general din of the waiting room, "could you help us please?" The rabbit paid Rebecca no mind, continuing about her task mindlessly. "Excuse me," Rebecca repeated more firmly, "we're looking for someone who was brought in earlier. Could you please help us find him?" Again, no response was forthcoming. Rebecca was becoming annoyed but wanted to try this nicely one more time.

Baloo didn't give her that chance. "Hey!" he yelled so loud that the entire room grew silent.

The rabbit was so startled by the unexpected outburst that she jumped straight out of her chair, sending folders and files all over the place. "What do you want?" she gasped, pressing her hand over her chest while her pink nose twitched in time to her heartbeast.

Rebecca could hear Baloo's teeth gnashing together so she hurriedly spoke up. "We were told that Kit Cloudkicker was brought here," she said, enunciating Kit's name clearly.

The rabbit glanced at them warily before picking up a sheet of paper and looking through it. "Cloudkicker was it?" she asked, more to give herself a chance to recover her senses than because she hadn't heard correctly. She was afraid to ask the next question, but she was more afraid of losing her job if she didn't. "And you are...?"

"I'm his Papa Bear," Baloo said loudly, daring the receptionist to challenge him.

But she didn't; she'd seen worried parents nearly every day she worked this desk. If anything, she could now understand his actions, even if she didn't excuse them. "Your son is still in the Emergency Room," she said, her professional demeanor once more intact. "Down this hall, follow the grey arrows. You can't miss it."

"Thank you very--" Rebecca started, but couldn't finish what she was saying as Baloo grabbed her hand and started dragging her down the hallway. "Baloo!"

Baloo didn't stop until they had reached the Emergency Room. "Hey you," he said, grabbing the first doctor he saw by the arm. "Where's my boy?"

The doctor, a frazzled looking jaguar who was nearing the end of a grueling triple shift, pulled his arm away irritably. "Does this boy of yours have a name?" he growled, baring his teeth in a decidedly unfriendly way. Rebecca took a step back, but Baloo just drew himself up to his full height, towering over the doctor. "His name's Kit."

Recognition lit up the doctor's amber eyes and his demeanor relaxed considerably. "Ahh, you must be Baloo then," he said with a much calmer tone of voice. "Yes, your boy told us you might come tearing through here...now what was the term he used...?"

"An out-of-control gorilla-bird?" Rebecca supplied helpfully. "I believe the adjective he used was deranged, but I got the idea," the doctor answered through a chuckle. "No need to worry," he added, seeing Baloo's ears turn red in either embarrassment or anger. "Your young lad is doing just fine. All things considered, that is."

"All things...considered?" Baloo asked, suddenly feeling a little woozy as all the things that might be wrong with Kit flooded his mind.

The doctor reached into his coat and produced a smelling salts tablet, waving it under Baloo's nose as Rebecca tried to keep the big bear upright. "Sorry about that," the doctor said as Baloo regained his senses. "Didn't mean to worry you overmuch. I should've said that Kit is as fine as anyone could be with a broken leg."

With everything that had been going through his brain, Baloo was greatly relieved to hear that, slumping against a straining Rebecca who just shoved him against the wall. "He's gonna be all right, right Doc?"

"The break was clean, and closed, so as long as he follows orders and gets enough rest. He's in room 5 and I believe the nurse should just be finishing up with his cast now."

"Thanks," Baloo said, saying more in that one heartfelt word than he could in a hundred. He lumbered toward the indicated room but stopped, making Rebecca crash into his back from the sudden stop. "Umm, hey Doc," he began, looking over his shoulder sheepishly.

The doctor waves his paw, stifling a yawn with the other. "Don't worry about it," he said. "Just go see to your boy."

"Ya don't have to tell me twice!"

Rebecca had just regained her balance when she found herself being pulled along again. "Baloo!" she yelled as soon as he stopped. "What do you think you're--"

"Excuse me ma'am," a different nurse said from where she stood in the doorway to Kit's room, this one a very attractive female wolf barely out of her teens with a clipboard in her arms. "I must ask you to remember that this is a hospital and there are a lot of seriously ill patients here. They need to relax in order to heal, and they need quiet in order to relax. So could you please keep your voice down?"

Under any other circumstances, Rebecca would've been offended at being chastised by someone more than a decade younger than her. But she was very clearly in the wrong here, and she knew it. Though she could only nod, it got her message across very easily. The wolf smiled and stepped backward, allowing them to step in the room.

Kit sat up and greeted them with a smile when he saw them, his eyes lighting up. "Hey there Miz Cunningham," he said as she pulled a chair up next to his bed. "You didn't have to come down here too; I know how important the business is to you."

"Not more important than you Kit," she said, her smile dimming a bit at his words. Did he really think that about her? She knew she sometimes got focused on her work, occasionally to the exclusion of everything else, but she would never put anyone's life ahead of Higher for Hire. It had been one thing to hear it from Baloo; she knew how he felt about her work ethic. But for Kit to echo the sentiment really made her want to think about it when she had time to. She pushed it aside for the moment and glanced down at the cast on his leg. "What happened?" she asked, letting her fingers trace the rough plaster.

Kit grimaced, more from the memory than from any pain. "Just some idiot at school who couldn't play fair. He couldn't stop me from stealing third so he took me out of the game."

"That's horrible!" she gasped. "Baloo, did you hear...?" It was only then that she noticed that Baloo was not at Kit's bedside and she looked around for him.

She could almost feel her eyes go red when they settled on him talking with the nurse who had chastised her earlier in hushed tones. He had his back to her, but Rebecca could see that the nurse had an appraising and inviting look on her face. Of all the times to flirt! And here she thought that he was concerned about Kit! Well he had a funny way of showing it. Hospital or no hospital, there was no way he was escaping her wrath this time. She stood up and marched over to him, ready to give him a piece of her mind and fist.

She hadn't taken more than two steps when their conversation reached her ears. "And you're sure this'll do it?" Baloo was asking her, his voice intense in its low tones.

The lupine nurse nodded, cocking her hips just a bit to the side as her long tail swayed behind her. "Don't worry," she said softly, rolling her r's slightly. "As long as you make sure he gets his rest and doesn't reinjure himself, your son will be just fine. We can take the cast off in six weeks, depending on his progress. But with how strong he is, I'm sure it won't be a problem."

Baloo relaxed slightly; Rebecca could see the tension draining from his stance. "Strong huh?" he asked with a weak smile.

"Oh yes," the nurse assured him. "He was unconscious when he was brought in, but he woke up as soon as the doctor began poking at his leg. I thought we might have to sedate him to keep him from screaming. But he surprised us all; he didn't even let out a whimper. I've seen adults with less serious injuries crying like babies. But not your boy." A look of pure pride came across Baloo's face, one that only a parent could have for their child. "Yeah, that's my boy all right," he said, his smile growing wider.

"Well, I have more rounds to make," the nurse said, pulling two sheets of paper off her clipboard. "The one on top is a list of everything I told you to help him heal. Fill out the second and you can take him home whenever you're ready, just drop it off with the nurse at the front desk. I'll arrange for a wheelchair to be brought around for him. This though," she added, handing him a small scrap of paper, "is for you. Call me sometime."

Baloo looked at the paper in his hand as she walked away and frowned, actually frowned! Rebecca slunk back to her seat before he turned around, her face burning in shame. She couldn't believe she had assumed the worst about Baloo, especially after slapping him earlier for doing the same thing. She was a hypocrite, and that was not a nice feeling to have. "You OK Miz Cunningham?" Kit asked, even though he had a knowing smile on his face.

She had the grace to look sheepish, but held up a finger to her lips as she heard Baloo approach behind her. "Hey there Kit," he said, ruffling the young bear's hair affectionately. "Ready to get outta here?"

"Been ready Papa Bear," he answered with a laugh. "Hospitals give me the creeps."

"Well, not everything about hospitals is bad," Baloo said, reaching into his shirt pocket. "'Specially when you got a pretty nurse wanting to give you her number."

When Baloo put that piece of paper in Kit's hand, the boy's eyes opened so wide that Rebecca worried they were going to pop out of his skull. He looked from the paper, to the door, and back to the paper in disbelief. When a blush broke out on his cheeks, Rebecca just knew she was seeing the beginning of the teenager's first crush.

Rebecca herself was feeling a little flushed. Even though he hadn't been flirting with that admittedly attractive nurse, he had still gotten her number. She'd expected Baloo to hold onto it until he could use it; she could even say she'd have understood. But to hand it off to Kit like he had was unheard of! She had to admit two things to herself: Baloo made a great father, and she liked what she saw.

"Even so, I'm ready to get back to school," Kit said, tucking the paper carefully away in his pocket.

"Now hold on there Li'l Britches," he said, his voice turning hard, "the nurse says you gotta rest up till they take the cast offa you. That means no school for six weeks. No flying neither," he added, seeing the hopeful look on Kit's face and sorry he had to ruin it.

Kit let his head fall back, wincing a bit as it hit the uncomfortable and scratchy hospital pillow. "Man, I'm gonna go crazy staying in bed for six weeks," he grumbled. Then he brightened as something occurred to him. "Well, at least I'll have six weeks without homework!"

"That's my boy! Always looking on the bright side."

"Nice try Busters," Rebecca said with a smirk. "I'm sure I can take Molly to Kit's school between Baloo's runs to bring home your schoolwork. Besides, she'll be starting first grade there in the fall; it'll be good for her to meet the teachers there and get familiar with the layout of the school." Both Baloo and Kit groaned at the idea, getting a small giggle out of her.

"All ready to go?" the she-wolf asked, pushing a wheelchair through the door. "Just don't forget to hand off the paperwork at the desk." Baloo smacked his forehead. "I was so busy with my boy I forgot all about it." He put the papers down on the small desk by the bed and looked them over. "Aww, why do these things always have so many tiny words?" he muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Hey Becky, do you think you could fill this out for me?"

"Huh?" she asked, more than a bit surprised. "Oh, sure Baloo." The nurse handed her a pen, which Rebecca thanked her for gratefully. She had filled out enough of these forms in her time that she could do so without thinking about it. By the time she was done, Baloo had already carefully lifted Kit from the bed and placed him in the wheelchair. "OK boys," she said, handing the pen back, "let's get out of here."

About an hour after they'd left, the doctor that Baloo had grabbed was on his own way home, and not a second too soon. He was so tired he couldn't even risk driving home or he might end up roadkill. Fortunately he was on good terms with a cab driver who always came to pick him up after a multiple shift. "Good night Sally," he muttered, stumbling past the desk.

"Excuse me doctor," she said timidly, making him nearly fall as he stopped. "I'm sorry, I know you're very tired. This can wait till morning."

"No, that's all right," he said with a tired smile. "If it was important enough to make you speak up, then it's important enough for me to answer you."

"Well, it's not exactly important," she demurred. "I'm just a little unclear about hospital regulations in this instance."

"Hospital...? Sally, you know more about hospital regulations than I do!"

The leporine nurse winced slightly. "Well, I've never come across a situation like this. This file...what letter should I file it under?"

"What makes it any different from the dozens of others you filed today?"

"Well...do I file it under the father's name or the son's?"

That deceptively simple question made the doctor's sleep-addled mind regain some clarity. "May I see that please?" he asked, holding out his hand. He'd hoped it was a mistake of some kind, but the writing was clear. Patient: Kit Cloudkicker. Parent: Baloo von Bruinwald. Their names did not match. "Looks like may day isn't over yet," he sighed, trudging back to his office to make some phone calls to get to the bottom of this.

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. A Big Mistake?

"For Kit's Sake"  
Author: Robert Brown

Disclaimer: This story uses characters created and copyrighted by Disney (except where noted, in which case they were created and copyrighted by us or by another and we have permission to use them). The authors hereby give permission for this story to be downloaded and/or printed at 1 copy per user as long as (1) no changes to the story are made without our express written(not e-mailed) permission and (2) no attempt is made to profit from this story. If either or both rules are violated, it will be considered a violation of copyright law.

Quick Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, I'll try not to let it happen again. My best friend/brother had a surgery that did not go so well and it took him three times the normal time to get back to his home. Also, I am looking for a new place for my website since geocities is closing down. And to top it off I am trying to find a new apartment. But I should be able to start writing more with things starting to fall into place. This fic will be 10 chapters, hopefully finished by the end of the year. Feel free to annoy me. Happy Reading!

Chapter 2: A Big Mistake?

Rebecca sat at her desk, catching up on some paperwork she had set aside to do that day. It had been a little over six weeks since Kit's leg had been broken and today was his first day back to school. The office was unusually quiet, like it used to be before the incident, and she had to take a few minutes to get used to it.

Of course, if she hadn't tricked Baloo into going to Louie's that morning, she wouldn't have the place to herself like she did. Since Kit had been injured, Baloo had been the employee she'd always dreamed of having. He picked up his cargo in the morning, made his runs without any detours, and returned to Cape Suzette with plenty of time to spare. She'd like to believe it was because he was finally taking her seriously, but she knew he wanted to be around if Kit needed him.

All through Kit's recovery Baloo had been there for him when he could; close, but not hovering. He'd gladly spent time with the younger bear whenever he could, reading comics and playing games with the boy. But he hadn't let Kit take advantage of him. A second bowl of ice cream after dinner was nothing, but when Kit had tried to wheedle a five-dollar model airplane kit out of Baloo, he'd been met with a firm "No" for his troubles. Kit had grumbled and complained, as any kid would, but Rebecca could tell that he was glad that Baloo hadn't given in. And so was she.

But she had to be truthful with herself. As much as she enjoyed the increased profit margin(thirty percent over the past month!), she missed the real Baloo. She missed his bad jokes, his lazy attitude, his laughter, and his smile. His interactions with her were becoming less and less frequent, relegated to business discussions. And even that was on occasion reduced to notes instead of face-to-face. She may have gained a terrific employee, but she was losing her best friend.

That was why she had conspired with Louie to get Baloo to loosen up. A shipment of nozzles for his gas station was the perfect cover. Louie had made sure a party was in full swing by the time Baloo arrived. She had been on the phone, letting Louie use her as an excuse for not attending to the invoice right away. It had taken almost fifteen minutes for Baloo to be drawn into the festivities. But once he had, she and Louie had exchanged a phone high-five, as he called it, and she'd known he'd be in good hands for a few hours. After everything he'd done over the past six weeks, he deserved it.

The weeks had not been all easy, no matter how Baloo had managed to make it seem. In the very first week, Baloo had a run-in with Don Karnage and the usual band of Air Pirates. Baloo had been very tight-lipped about the whole affair, saying only that Karnage had agreed not to bother him again for the entire time Kit was convalescing. This was very unusual for Baloo, who had never passed up an opportunity to brag about handing Karnage another crushing defeat. She didn't know whether to be suspicious or worried, but whatever had happened, the Air Pirates had kept their distance after all.

And that was only on Baloo's end of things. Kit had thought she was joking when she'd promised to make sure he kept up on his homework; he'd quickly found out it was no joke. As much as he'd grumbled, he came to look forward to it as a way to pass the time while Baloo was out on his deliveries. Once the homework ran out, Wildcat had kept him occupied with simple games and teaching him how to tinker.

Occasionally the Jungle Aces had visited, but it was hard to keep a group of rambunctious kids quiet for any length of time. Since Kit had really needed his rest, she'd been forced to keep those visits to a very short amount of time. They'd all signed his cast and wished him well, but Rebecca knew that seeing them had made it worse for him as he was confined to bed. After their visits, he'd always gotten a little sadder, but not enough to really concern her.

What had concerned her, however, was when Kit had insisted on calling that nurse that Baloo had given him the number of. She couldn't blame him; he was quite smitten with her after all. But she'd had no idea how the wolf would react, nor how to break the truth to him without hurting her himself.

She shouldn't have worried. The nurse, who she'd found out was named Velvela, had turned out to be quite the good sport over it. That first phone call had lasted over a half hour and each one that followed had been at least fifteen minutes long. She'd also come by to visit him rather frequently, spending at least an hour with him when she'd had a day off, talking with him about everything and nothing. Rebecca had never seen the boy look so proud and flustered when Velvela had left a lipstick print on his cast and another on his cheek her first visit. And that look had been repeated with every kiss she left on his cheek each visit thereafter.

After the fourth visit, Rebecca had asked to speak with her, voicing her protests to this continuing. He was only thirteen after all and she was a grown woman just this side of twenty. It wasn't fair to Kit to be led on by someone who obviously had no real interest in him.

She had expected to face Velvela's anger, or spluttered denials, or even mocking laughter. But what she'd gotten, she couldn't have expected in a million years. "And who says I have no interest in him?" the lupine had asked, her tail twitching irritably. "He's a great kid, and I can tell he's going to grow up to be a great guy, the kind of guy that comes along maybe once in a lifetime.

"Look, I don't know if you're aware of this, but the life of a nurse is a hard one. As much as I want to find a serious relationship right now, it's just not in the cards. Maybe five years down the road I'll be secure enough in my job to look for one. And you know what? In five years Kit will be eighteen. Now I'm not going to encourage him to wait for me, but I'm not going to discourage him either. Same goes with me waiting for him. But I am going to spend time with him, as friends, and see if the relationship grows as he does."

Rebecca had been fairly speechless as Velvela walked out. Try as she had, she had been unable to offer any realistic challenges to her logic. The lupine nurse had even given her a chance the next time she visited to voice any rebuttals she may have come up with. But since there was nothing there, Rebecca had been forced to agree not to interfere until she could come up with something. And so far, she still hadn't.

The clock struck noon, pulling her from her thoughts. "A good time for a break," she decided, pushing away from her desk and heading to the kitchen. She wanted something simple and light today; sandwiches would make a nice working lunch. She grabbed a loaf of bread, thankfully fresh, and two plates before remembering that she only needed one.

As she put the second plate away, she remembered a time when she had made sandwiches for Kit. As she'd passed by her desk, the phone had started ringing. She had fully intended on asking the caller to hold for a few moments, but it had turned out to be a very important client that she had been trying to land since before Kit's "accident". Against her better judgment, she'd been drawn into a full conversation. By the time she had been able to get off the phone, fifteen minutes had passed. She'd turned back to the tray with a heavy sigh, trying to come up with an apology for Kit; even though she had landed the contract, she'd felt bad for making him wait.

But the tray wasn't where she'd put it! She had looked around on the floor, thinking she may have accidentally knocked it off the desk while on the phone, but it wasn't there either. She had then swept her gaze around the entire room, hoping that she had mistakenly set it down somewhere when she'd heard the phone ring.

She had found it easily, but she hadn't believed her eyes. The tray had been moving up the stairs on its own! She'd padded over to bottom of the staircase only to find that her initial thoughts had been incorrect. Molly, her little Molly, had been carefully working the tray up the stairs. As Rebecca had watched, her daughter had lifted the tray up high enough to place it one step higher than it was, then had immediately clambered up behind it. Rebecca had been afraid that she would hurt herself, but Molly had managed to make it all the way up the stairs without incident.

Curious, Rebecca had followed silently, not wanting to startle her. The tawny-furred bear had half-carried, half-dragged the tray to Kit's door. With her hands full, she had been forced to bump it open with her hip in such a way that Rebecca had had to cover her mouth so that her laughing couldn't be heard. She'd then crept over to the door and peeked in, wanting to see and hear what was going on in there.

"Mommy made this for you," Molly had said, struggling to put the tray across his lap, "but she's too busy to bring it up herself."

Kit had grabbed the tray and set it in place before it could fall, breathing a sigh of relief that Molly had not been able to see but Rebecca had. "Thanks a lot Molly," he'd said, picking up half a sandwich and taking a bite. "And thank your mom for me, these are delicious!" The rest of the conversation had been pretty normal. Well, as normal as Molly's stories could be. Kit had listened raptly; Molly always had been able to spin a tale that drew you in if you weren't careful.

Satisfied that they would be occupied for a while yet, Rebecca had started downstairs when she'd heard Molly ask a seemingly innocent question. "Hey Kit, why do you have lipstick on your cast?"

Rebecca had almost laughed again as she could hear Kit spluttering in an attempt to come up with an excuse that would satisfy Molly's ever-curious nature. "Well," he'd started nervously, "you know how sometimes you kiss a pain to make it better?"

"Yes...?" Molly had answered, but Rebecca could hear her daughter's disbelief already starting to pop up.

"Well, with the cast on, Velvela couldn't kiss my pain directly, so she put on lipstick to help her kiss go through the cast."

"Oh." Molly had scampered past her just a few seconds later, apparently happy with the answer she had received.

Rebecca had thought the matter was settled and was about to return to her work, but she'd heard a weird sound coming from downstairs. She had looked over the railing to find that Molly was rummaging around in her purse. Her first thought had been to stop her and demand to know what she was doing, but she had changed her mind when she saw her daughter pull out a tube of lipstick and a compact.

While Rebecca watched, Molly had opened up the compact and, using the mirror inside, had started applying the bright pink lipstick to her lips. Unlike the last time Molly had played makeup and ended up looking like a clown, she had been very careful to only paint her lips with the waxy substance, even using a tissue to wipe off the excess when her hand had trembled.

She had hid in the bathroom as Molly ran back up the stairs, creeping back to the door only once Molly had gone inside. It hadn't surprised her to see Molly place a firm kiss on the cast on the opposite side of where Velvela had put hers. But she had been surprised when her daughter had placed another one on Kit's cheek. Kit had looked as surprised as Rebecca felt, and neither one had said anything to Molly as she ran from the room, her face as pink as the lipstick she'd been wearing.

A strange feeling tugged at Rebecca's stomach as she thought about the incident and she set the bread down, not very hungry anymore. When she'd first come to Higher for Hire, she had worried about Molly developing a crush on Kit but soon put it aside as they seemed to settle into a brother-sister relationship.

That misconception had been pretty forcefully dispelled by this act as well as the ones that followed. Any time Velvela had left a kiss on Kit's cheek, even if he'd scrubbed off all the evidence, Molly had somehow known and insisted on doing the same. Kit had tried to refuse her once, but the same glare that Rebecca herself used on Baloo had the same effect when Molly used it on Kit and he just meekly accepted it.

Then there was the open hostility Molly displayed toward the she-wolf. At first it had been kind of cute; Rebecca remembered her first crush on an older gentleman and the less than ladylike way she'd acted around the woman he'd been interested in. But that mischievous and calculating streak she'd inherited from her father had forced Rebecca to make sure the two met up as infrequently as possible. Adding to the problem, at least in Rebecca's eyes, was that Velvela did not disregard Molly, choosing instead to treat the young bearess as a serious rival. After all, if she could wait for Kit, who was to say that Kit would not wait for Molly?

That left Rebecca in a very awkward position, one she had yet to find her way out of. If she scolded Molly, it could be interpreted as a de facto support of Velvela and would definitely alienate her daughter. But any offense taken with Velvela, especially in light of their earlier conversation, would only encourage Molly. What was a mother to do?

Fortunately for her sanity, a knock at the door drew her attention away from these troubling thoughts. "Coming!" she called, her voice quavering noticably. She walked toward the door slowly, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. Satisfied that she had regained a more business-like demeanor, she turned the knob and opened the door. "Welcome to Higher for Hire," she said as cheerily as she could manage. "How may I help you?"

A smartly dressed wolverine stood on the doorstep, a briefcase clutched in one hand while the other rested comfortably in the small of his back. A pair of pince-nez sat loosely on his nose, falling slightly askew as he looked up at her. "Excuse me," he said in a slightly nasal voice, pushing his spectacles more firmly up the bridge of his nose. "Are you Ms. Cunningham?"

"Why yes I am," Rebecca answered, though her good cheer was slightly forced now. The last thing she needed right now was a pushy salesman ruining her day and trying to take her hard-earned money. "What can I do for you?" she asked, already tightening her grip on the door to slam it in his face.

The wolverine pulled a piece of paper from his briefcase and studied it intently, bringing it closer to his nose so that it was easier to see. "And is this the home of Master Kit...Cloudkicker is it?" he asked, looking up from the paper back to her. "I have been assigned to perform a follow up interview."

"Oh excuse me," she said, embarrassed for her assumption. "I'm just surprised that it took so long for someone at the hospital to follow up with us. Please, come in." The wolverine merely smiled, saying nothing as he walked past her into the office. "So what would you like to know Mr. ...?"

"Mr. Sripe," The wolverine offered, settling into a chair as Rebecca sat down behind her desk. "Now then, perhaps you could tell me a little bit about Master Cloudkicker and his relationship to Mr. von Bruinwald?"

It didn't take much to get Rebecca talking about Kit and she went on and on about every aspect of his life. From his schooling to his relationship with Baloo to the crazy adventures he went on as Baloo's navigator, she spoke of him animatedly and effusively. She was proud of the young man that Kit was turning into and she knew that Mr. Sripe could tell.

However, when the conversation was steered to his time with the Air Pirates, warning bells started to go off inside her mind. "Excuse me," she interjected as soon as she could do so without seeing rude. "But I don't really understand what the hospital would need this information for."

Mr. Sripe smiled knowingly, sitting back in his chair. It had been rather easy to get caught up in such fanciful tales of the young boy's life. If he hadn't been able to independently corroborate these stories before he even stepped near the dock, he would've thought Rebecca was buying in to a child's fantasies. But the truth was she had actually been downplaying things.

"Mr. Sripe?" she said firmly, concerned when the wolverine did not answer her question right away.

"Pardon me," he said, pulling his glasses off his nose and cleaning the lenses with a cloth he pulled from his vest pocket. "I'm afraid there's been a bit of a misunderstanding here. At no time did I say I worked for the hospital or even the school. I am actually a senior agent of Cape Suzette's branch of Child Protective Services."

Rebecca's blood ran cold at that pronouncement. How could she have been so foolish? Back when she first met Baloo, she'd had half a mind herself to call CPS herself; certainly living with that bear couldn't have been an ideal situation. Yet after she'd seen them together, she didn't have the heart to try and break them up. Something she'd had to learn firsthand. Something Mr. Sripe did not have access to. "Y-You see ," she began nervously, trying to find a way to dig herself out of the hole she unwittingly found herself in, "Baloo is an excellent father figure and cares for Kit very much, not to mention--"

Mr. Sripe held up his hand, cutting off Rebeeca's ramblings before it could get very far. "That fact is not in dispute," he assured her, frowning as he saw her relax slightly. "However, after being alerted to this case by the doctor who treated Master Cloudkicker's broken arm, it was quickly discovered that there is no legal ruling or order of adoption that places Mr. von Bruinwald as the boy's legal guardian.

"Adding to the situation is that we have not been able to track down any information regarding Master Cloudkicker's family," he continued, resting his briefcase on his lap and opening it. "Part of the reason it took so long to follow up with you is because we were trying to determine if anyone did in fact have a legal guardianship over him. But to be quite honest, as far as the agency is concerned, he just showed up one day. We have assigned him the status of 'Orphan' until such time as more information surfaces."

"Can't Baloo just open adoption proceedings now?" Rebecca asked, trying to hide the tremor in her voice. "I mean, Kit's been living here so long that it should count for something."

Mr. Sripe fixed her with a pitying look that made tears want to come to her eyes. "Despite the truth of that, and despite the love and care I know Mr. von Bruinwald is capable of giving the boy, the fact remains that as a single father, one whose job can take him out of Cape Suzette for days at a time, he does not provide an ideal household for a growing boy. The rules are very clear about this sort of thing; such a petition is very likely to be denied."

Rebecca swallowed nervously, placing her hands on her desk as if to steady herself. "What about me?" she asked, even though she knew she was grasping at straws.

He pulled a folder from his briefcase and thumbed through it. "It says here that you are a single mother raising a young daughter. Though you do fit many of the criteria we wold look for, the fact that you already have a child would open you up to very intense scrutiny. Your competency to raise your own child may even be brought into question. Think about it very carefully before you pursue that line of thought."

By now Rebecca was nearly frantic. She could not, would not allow this agent to take Kit away from his family. There had to be something she could say, something that would make a clear difference in things. But what? From the way he was looking at her, it was clear that he expected her to lie, and she wasn't that good of a liar anyway. So what could she do? How could she get out of this hole she'd dug herself?

Well, there was one way.... "When I asked, 'what about me'," she began slowly to make herself appear more in control than she really was, "I meant what would my status as Baloo's fiancée do to his application?"

The agent's eyes narrowed markedly, regarding her with a shrewd expression. "Is it proper business protocol to marry your employee?" he asked, his tone significantly cooler.

"We've always felt like we had a family business," she answered as smoothly as she could. "Why not make it official?"

"And the children are all right with this?"

"They're the ones who helped us see what was in front of our noses."

"I don't believe I've ever heard of an engagement that didn't include a ring," he said, looking pointedly at her left hand.

Rebecca blanched slightly, fortunate not to have the agent notice it. "It does get in the way while I'm working," she said, picking her purse up and placing it on the desk in front of her. Hidden away in a small zipper pocket was a set of three rings, two wedding bands and an engagement ring. Though she had not worn her husband's ring since she lost him, she had always kept them on her person in some way to feel like he was there with her, watching over her. "Please forgive me," she whispered as a quick prayer as she slid her engagement ring on her finger, feeling its comforting weight.

Mr. Sripe sat forward in his chair, closing his briefcase as he continued to stare at her. "I admit to finding the timing of this very suspect," he said slowly. "If this is an attempt to defraud a government agency, it will go badly with you. You will go to jail, your daughter will be taken from you, and you will likely never see her again. Are you sure you wish to stand by your words this day?"

Rebecca's spine stiffened in response to his veiled threat against Molly and her demeanor was now that of a mother protecting her child. "I am absolutely sure," she said in a curt, clipped tone. "And I do not appreciate your attempt to threaten me by using my daughter."

To her surprise, the wolverine actually relaxed in the face of her words, even allowing himself a small smile. "Hold onto that fire," he advised her, "you're going to need it in the upcoming months."

"Huh?" Rebecca asked, not sure what his change in demeanor meant but not trusting it either.

Mr. Sripe smiled, leaning back in the chair more comfortably. "With this new information, I no longer see the need for an immediate intervention," he said, whipping a piece of paper out of his briefcase and scrawling his signature at the bottom. "This paper grants you and Mr. von Bruinwald a temporary legal guardianship over Master Cloudkicker. I don't know what your wedding plans are, but I would suggest you make sooner rather than later."

"Of...of course," she said, taking the offered document and scanning it without really seeing it.

The wolverine stood, smiling a bit more at her bemused reaction. "I will be dropping by randomly to ensure that this is all on the up and up. I suggest not turning me away too much lest suspicions grow. I can see myself out. Good day Ms. Cunningham."

Rebecca did not move from her chair, still trying to wrap her mind around everything that had happened. The phone rang, but instead of answering it she just picked up the receiver, let it drop back to the cradle, then took it off the hook and left it there. After what she'd just been through, she didn't feel like dealing with anyone.

Later that afternoon, Kit nearly skipped in through the front door. He had feared his enthusiasm to return to school would die away once he actually stepped inside. But with everyone in his class, the teacher included, happy to see him, he had enjoyed a quasi-celebrity status throughout the day. He'd even brought the cut off cast in for show-and-tell, making sure to point out the two very distinct lipstick kisses on them. The boys had been jealous and a few of the girls had even offered to add their own to the cast. All in all, it had been close to a perfect day.

That all came crashing down when he saw Rebecca still sitting at her desk with the phone off the hook. "Miz Cunningham?" he called, dropping his bookbag by the door and running over to her. "Are you all right?"

Rebecca looked over at him, slowly blinking her eyes as if coming out of a daze. "Oh, hello Kit," she said, trying to smile for him. "Everything is fine. Just go up to your room and do your homework, OK? I have something I need to think about."

Kit was scared; he'd never seen Rebecca act like this. It was so disconcerting that he didn't even think of refusing her and hurried up the stairs, grabbing his bookbag along the way. But he didn't go to his room. Once he was out of sight he crouched down by the banister, determined to find out what was going on.

He didn't have to wait long. Within a half-hour he heard the Sea Duck taxiing across the water to the waiting dock. "What a party!" Baloo yelled, bursting through the door wearing at least three lei, a pair of pink and purple shades, and a lampshade on his head. "Oh Beckers you were right! Ol' Baloo is back in action and feelin' fine! I owe you and I owe you big!"

When no response was forthcoming, Baloo took off his shades to see the state that Rebecca was in. "Becky?" he called softly, setting the lampshade down in his favorite chair and lumbering over to her. "Hey, what's wrong?"

If only Baloo had the chain of events that would follow, he may have never asked the question. He was already regretting it when she looked up at him with a haunted that he hoped never to see again on her face. "Baloo," she said quietly, "you're going to kill me."

TO BE CONTINUED


	3. Ghosts of the Past

"For Kit's Sake"  
Authors: Robert Brown

Disclaimer: This story uses characters created and copyrighted by Disney (except where noted, in which case they were created and copyrighted by us or by another and we have permission to use them). The authors hereby give permission for this story to be downloaded and/or printed at 1 copy per user as long as (1) no changes to the story are made without our express written(not e-mailed) permission and (2) no attempt is made to profit from this story. If either or both rules are violated, it will be considered a violation of copyright law.

Quick Author's Note: Uh...yeah. Knee surgery, new apartment, and a bunch of less savory problems. Just in case any of you were wondering why it took so long to get this out. That's why. Let's hope I can pick this up this year. I think this is a good story and I want to get it out before I don't. Cross your fingers.

Chapter 3: Ghosts of the Past

"You're going to kill me."

The words hung in the air like a poison that Baloo could not help but draw into his lungs. Whenever something went wrong, Becky usually found a way to spin it into being his fault. And by his own admission, it usually was. That she was accepting responsibility for whatever had happened, not to mention she was expecting and apparently condoning his anger, shook him to the core. "What'd you do Becky?" he said with what was supposed to be a laugh but came out a wheeze as he pulled the remnants of the party off and dropped them into a corner. "Did you sell my plane or something?"

"Worse," she moaned, letting her face fall into her palms.

Baloo swallowed to try and moisten his suddenly dry throat. "I'm... fired?"

Rebecca's head whipped up, a look of disgust on her face. "Don't be ridiculous," she snapped. "If I were going to fire you, I'd have more tact than to do it after a party I helped plan for you."

He pulled his hat off and wiped his forehead. "Then what?" he asked, frustration seeping into his voice.

"Sit down Baloo and I'll tell you."

"I'll stand." Baloo had never heard those words followed by good news, which usually meant he'd be standing up out of the chair in a moment anyway.

Rebecca nodded absently, letting her arms fall on the desk. "I had a visitor today," she started, her voice halting, "a Mr. Sripe who was asking questions about Kit. I thought he worked for the hospital or the school because he said he was here for a follow-up interview. I didn't think anything of it until his questions started getting a little too personal.

"I couldn't understand why he was asking about Kit's time with the Air Pirates and I said as much. That's when he told me that he was with Child Protective Services looking into why Kit isn't adopted and whether or not he should be here."

Baloo clenched his fists so hard that his arms were trembling. How could she fall for something like that? He learned the hard way not to take someone at their look. Guys like that were slick; they'd go ahead and let you think whatever you wanted until you noticed something was off. And by then it was already too late to do anything about it. "That's how they operate," he ground out, his teeth locked together. "You made a mistake Becky, but this guy is making a bigger one if he thinks he's taking Kit from me."

"I tried to stop him," she said hurriedly. "I offered to adopt Kit myself since he didn't think you'd be able to, being a single pilot whose job takes him away from home a lot. But...."

"But what?" Baloo demanded when her voice broke.

She seemed to wilt in her chair under his gaze and Baloo's stomach turned at how fragile she suddenly looked. "It doesn't matter," she said in a weak and tired voice. "It was only a threat to make me back down. I don't think he'd actually--"

"Rebecca," he said, cutting her off in a low, firm voice, "tell me what he said."

"He said I might lose Molly if I tried!" she shouted, tears falling from her eyes.

Baloo's anger grew exponentially at those words. "He threatened you?" he growled, his voice slipping into a darker, more feral range. "Where's Molly?"

Rebecca leaned back in her chair until it almost tipped over, afraid of Baloo's anger yet simultaneously comforted that it was because of what had happened to her. "She's home with the babysitter. She didn't want to come with me today because Kit was going back to school.

"I panicked Baloo," she continued, babbling in her nervousness. "I couldn't let him just come in here and take Kit or Molly from us. I had to do something so he'd just leave, so I just said the first thing that came to mind."

"Let me guess," he groaned, putting his hands on her desk and leaning forward until it creaked in protest. "Whatever you said made him so mad that he's off getting the police right now to come and arrest us. Am I close?"

"N-No," she stammered. "In fact, it actually worked."

"It did?" Baloo asked in surprise. At her frightened nod, he forced himself to calm down, realizing just how he must look at that moment. Sure he flew off the handle at times, but he rarely got so angry that he scared those who were close to him. "Becky, you are the worst liar I've ever known," he said, trying to make a joke to lighten the mood. "What did you possibly come up with that he believed?"

She looked down at the engagement ring that once more adorned her finger. "I told him that we were engaged and that we would be getting married soon." She closed her eyes, steeling herself against the laughter that she was sure was coming.

But it didn't. Rebecca waited a few minutes, just in case Baloo was in too much shock to react right away. Still nothing. She opened her eyes to see why Baloo hadn't told her what a fool she was, but she was not prepared for what she saw.

Baloo's face was like stone. No, she realized, stone would have more warmth to it. The chill behind his expressionless eyes was so deep that it froze the breath in her throat; if she had been capable of speech she was positive it would have misted the air.

Baloo looked at her for a long moment with that same blank expression before turning around and lumbering for the door. Rebecca forced her surprised body into motion, lurching to block the door that led to the Sea Duck. But Baloo wasn't heading that way. He opened the door that led to the street and slammed it shut behind him before she knew what was happening.

Rebecca slid down to the ground, staring at the still quivering door. She had never seen Baloo like that. His face, and especially his eyes, had always shown emotion. Fear, joy, anger, there was always something. But what she had just seen.... If she didn't know better, she would've thought she was looking the eyes of a corpse.

"Boy, you've really done it now Miz Cunningham," Kit remarked, walking slowly down the stairs.

"Done?" she asked, sounding less bewildered than she actually was. "What have I done? All I did was keep that guy from taking you away from Baloo. I don't understand."

Kit hopped up into Baloo's chair and sighed. "I do appreciate it, and when Papa Bear calms down I'm sure he will too. But there are things you don't know about him and I'm not sure I should be telling you this. I'm not even supposed to know about it but Wildcat let it slip one day."

Rebecca hugged her knees to her chest, staring at Kit over the violet fabric. "I need to know Kit," she whispered. Kit didn't look so sure, but he chose not to argue about it. Rebecca didn't know what she was going to hear, but she had a feeling that it would change everything she had ever known or thought about Baloo.

While Kit was beginning his tale, Baloo wandered through the mostly empty streets of Cape Suzette, letting his feet take him wherever they wanted. Whenever this discussion came up, infrequently though it did, he always had to take a walk to try and drive the memories away. No, that wasn't true. He was running away, from the memories and the conversation, and he knew it. But he didn't know any other way to handle it.

A group of students from the local high school, juniors and seniors by the look of them, ambled drunkenly down the street toward him. Some of them were definitely a bit too young to drink, but Baloo knew from experience that the law was often overlooked for the right price. He'd certainly done it himself at that age.

As they passed Baloo, one of them tripped drunkenly against the older bear's side. "Hey, watsh it!" the teen slurred, giving Baloo as much of a shove as his uncoordinated muscles would allow. "You lookin to shtart sumtin Gramps?"

Either the shove or the crack about his age would've normally been enough to put Baloo in a fighting mood. But he just calmly walked around them, ignoring their taunts and curses, and kept on his way. Even the empty bottle that shattered on the pavement behind him didn't make him turn around.

When his feet finally stopped moving, he found himself sitting on a bench in the city's park under the glare of a solitary streetlamp. "What has Becky gotten me into?" he moaned, putting his hand on his hat and sliding it down his face. "Why? Of all the things she could've said, why did she have to say that?"

It had been almost twenty years since he'd heard those words associated with himself. True, he and Rebecca had pretended to be married when he had to fool the Army, but that was for all of about five minutes and there had been no engagement or wedding. He really doubted that this Mr. Stripe, or whatever his name was, would be so gullible.

The last time he'd dealt with this had ended so badly he never wanted to deal with those ideas again. As much as he didn't want to, as much as he tried to fight it, Baloo found himself drawn into memories he had long ago thought buried.

* * *

"Hey Louie, ain't it great?" a twenty-one year old Baloo asked his best friend. "We can finally do this legally!" In his hand was a Cape Suzette issued ID proclaiming his age, and his legal status to purchase alcohol.

"Sounds like a plan man!" a just slightly younger Louie said with a mouth-splitting grin. "You grab the booze, I'll sweet talk Aunt Louise into letting us use her place for the party, and maybe Wildcat will bring that band he's in. Man oh man Cuz, we're gonna tear it down tonight!"

"As long as we don't have to rebuild it," Baloo quipped, slapping his buddy a highfive. "See you in a couple hours, I gotta make me a beer run." He sauntered down the street like he didn't have a care in the world, like he owned the place. And the way he was feeling, he might as well have owned it!

He took great pleasure waltzing into Old Biskitt's liquor store down by the pier. That gruff old collie had always chased him out of the store when he'd tried to buy some alcohol. Even now, the aged shopkeeper grabbed a broom and lifted it above his head menacingly. "If I told ya once, I told ya a hundred times," he said, glaring up at the bear in front of him, "I ain't selling no booze to no kid!"

"Calm down old timer," Baloo said, keeping his hands at the ready just in case the geezer swung before he could explain himself. "I ain't no kid no more, and I got the proof right here."

Biskitt snatched the card from Baloo's hand, turning on an overhead light to examine it properly. He was pretty good at picking out the fakes; he had decades of experience. But this one looked as real as it got, even had the official seal and all. "Let me guess," he said, tapping the card against the counter. "You just turned legal and you're gonna throw a nice big party to celebrate."

"That's the idea," Baloo confirmed, puffing out his chest a little.

"With at least fifty of your friends?"

"More like a hundred."

"And I suppose there's gonna be some hot looking dames in attendance?"

"Would it be a party without them?" Baloo countered.

"Then what are you standing around here for?" the old dog asked, flipping the ID back to Baloo. "Come on! I got the good stuff in the back!" When the old guy said "the good stuff", he meant the good stuff! All Baloo had been looking to get was a keg or two of beer. But Old Biskitt gave him a lot more, some of it Baloo had never seen before. He even offered to be the bartender for the party!

And what a party it was. It seemed like everyone Baloo had ever known had turned out, and everyone was having a great time. The music was loud, the drinks were flowing, and the whole house was shaking. And Baloo loved every single minute of it.

Well, not quite. He could hold his own in a beer-drinking contest even at this age, but the harder stuff wasn't going down as smoothly. Combine that with the beat of Wildcat's band and the smoky atmosphere, he needed some fresh air. He hoped no one would notice the birthday boy leaving his own party; he'd never be able to live that down.

One he cleared the front door and jogged down a short flight of stairs, his head started to clear. "Oh man," he moaned, rubbing his stomach, "I wonder if I'll ever get used to that."

"It might help if you have something to eat first," a very feminine and very sensual purr rumbled behind him. "I've found that it keeps me from getting drunk longer and doesn't let me get as drunk. That way I can have more fun."

Baloo spun around to find the source of that voice, letting out a muttered curse at the sudden movement. Once the world stopped spinning, he noticed an attractive female feline leaning against the corner of the house gazing at him. The way her green eyes glowed in the dark, it was like he was the only thing she cared about seeing.

Once he was able to tear his eyes from hers, he realized one thing: attractive was an understatement. This exotic lady was unlike any feline he'd ever seen. Her reddish-brown fur was dotted with light brown spots surrounded by black spots in a pattern that vaguely reminded him of roses. Two black stripes adorned each side of her face and her green eyes were ringed with pure white fur. Her bright red hair fell straight down her back to the base of her tail which swayed calmly behind her.

Despite her exotic looks, her clothes were decidedly pedestrian. A black short-sleeved blouse matched with black slacks and low heels of the same shade. But what it may have lacked in style, it also lacked in modesty. The clothes must have been a size or two too small for how tightly they fit, which meant they left nothing to the imagination. "I guess I had more to drink than I thought," Baloo mumbled. "There's no way anyone like her could be real."

"Oh I'm very real birthday boy," she purred again, sashaying toward him with a predatory grin. Baloo could only watch as she stopped right in front of him and extended a claw and ran it down his cheek. "Very, very real."

"So I see!" He winced when his voice broke into a very unmanly squeak, expecting her to laugh at him. She did laugh, but instead of being mocking, it was a low, rumbling giggle that set every nerve in his body firing.

The ocelot splayed her hands across Baloo's chest, smiling when she felt the big bear shiver. "I'd heard tonight was supposed to be a birthday party for a bear named Baloo," she said, smiling up at him in a way that made his heart race. "And yet, I haven't seen a single present. Kind of unfair if you ask me."

"N-never thought about it like that," he stuttered, swallowing hard in a failed attempt to regain his composure.

She slid her arms up around his neck and tugged his head down toward hers. "Isn't it a good thing I'm here then?" she whispered, her sweet breath tickling his nose. "I guarantee my present will make up for all the ones you didn't get."

"Does my present have a name?" Baloo murmured, closing his eyes as his head tilted to the side.

"Myriam," was the only word she whispered before her lips were on his. Baloo was no stranger to being kissed, though admittedly he was the one who usually inititated it. What Myriam did with just her lips against his made him so jelly-legged that he found himself down on one knee by the time she ended it. "I knew I was good," she growled with a throaty chuckle, "but I think this is the first time I've been proposed to after just a kiss."

Baloo laughed with her as he stood up, surprised at how hard it was to stay steady. "Talk about your unforgettable birthday gifts," he whispered, unable to make a louder sound than that.

Myriam arched a delicate eyebrow, her lips pursing in a delicate pout. "Oh hun, that wasn't the gift."

"It wasn't?"

She shook her head, her red mane cascading out behind her. "That was just the nametag," she said, hooking her finger into his shirt. "Why don't we find a nice, quiet room where you can...unwrap the rest of it?"

What occurred that night, and well into the next morning, was the start of a whirlwind romance that was defined by friends, fun, and passion. Both Baloo and Myriam were quickly accepted into each other's circle of friends, and they all often went out together and partied until after the sun rose. But Baloo and Myriam also took time for themselves, learning more and more about each other and even going on a few "official" dates.

They both expected the burst of passion they'd experienced at the start to fade somewhat as time went on, as these things often did. But in their case, it never wavered for a second and only grew brighter and hotter the more time they spent together. They often joked about how the flames would one day consume them, but they were happy to ride it out for as long as they could.

When Baloo realized that their two-year anniversary was approaching, he took a long, hard look at those two years and discovered something. The life they'd been living was the life he wanted to keep living, he just wanted to make it more permanent. He couldn't believe that with all his hard partying ways, he'd finally found someone he was willing to spend the rest of his days with.

But Myriam was a wild spirit, which was one of the things he loved about her. She hated to be tied down in any way, and he was worried that letting her know how he felt might drive her away. There had to be some way to put it so that she wouldn't immediately reject the idea. It took a while, with help from both her friends and his, but eventually he thought he had something that she might listen to.

He made his move on a bright Sunday afternoon. It was a little tradition they had between them to go down by the docks and watching the planes as they took off and landed. Myriam loved to watch them disappear through the far-off opening in the cliffs. To her, that sight represented the ultimate freedom: leaving whenever you wanted and going wherever you liked. "Mark my words Baloo," she said like she had every Sunday since they started this, "one day I'm gonna fly out of those cliffs and see what the world has to offer me."

"I believe you Kittycat," he said, putting his arm around her. "In fact, that day might be a little closer than you think."

She turned to look at him with a wary gaze. "I know that tone," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "What do you have planned Bigbear?"

"Hey, has ol' Baloo ever let you down?"

Myriam rolled her eyes, but she said nothing as he led her toward one of the far docks. A large, tarp covered object awaited them, and her breath caught in her throat as she realized what kind of shape it made. "Baloo, you didn't," she whispered, staring at the item in awe and a bit of fear.

Baloo waggled his eyebrows and pulled away the tarp, revealing a bright yellow Conwing L-16. "Do you think you could get away in this?" he asked, fiddling with the canvas while not looking at her directly.

She opened up the door and walked inside. "This is amazing," she said, looking and touching everything. She tried the cargo doors, sat in the pilot's seat, and flipped a few random switches just to see what they would do. "This is a dream come true. But you can't afford this! You don't even have a job."

"Two words hun: gorilla birds."

"But you hate those things!"

Baloo just shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. When she arched her eyebrow in the way that meant "you really expect me to accept that?", he sighed and continued. "They weren't too bad to deal with. Especially because the owner let me knock their heads a couple times on the trips we made. Besides, it was worth it for you, even if I did have to blow off a couple of dates to do it."

Her eyes sparkled as she looked up at him, but then they narrowed as one thing he said broke through the fluff. "Wait. Trips?" she asked, stressing the fact that it was plural. "I may not know too much about planes, but I know that just one trip would've been enough to buy this."

"Yeah, but what good's a plane without a license?" he pointed out, flashing his brand new license for her. "Not to mention we need fuel, both for the plane and for us, as well as money to spend in case we find something we want."

"You keep saying 'we' a lot Bigbear," she said in a light voice, but he could hear the nervousness behind her words. "You trying to tell me something?"

"Actually, I'm hoping you'll tell me something," Baloo countered, dropping down on one knee and pulling a black box from his pocket. "And what I'm really hoping to hear," he said, opening the box up and showing her the engagement ring inside, "is 'yes'."

Myriam's hand flew up to cover her mouth, her green eyes wider than he had ever seen them. The way she looked from him to the ring and back again, he worried he'd made a mistake and immediately started babbling to try and convince her. "We could go wherever we wanted in the plane, and when we got tired for a bit we could come back here and hang out with the crowd until we wanted to take off again, like having a base to come back home to and--"

His words were cut off by a Myriam's lips crashing down on his as her body pushed him down to the floor. "You had me at 'we' Baloo," she purred happily.

"Does that mean--"

She cut him off again by snatching the ring out of the box and slipping it on her left hand. "I never thought I'd be saying this, but I've got a wedding to plan."

And boy did she. Baloo had expected a simple thing, like a giant party with all their friends. But Myriam wouldn't hear of it; she may have never thought she was going to get married, but if she was going to do it then she was going to do it right. That meant flowers, a church, dresses, and putting an announcement in the local paper. Her friends helped her out, especially with keeping the costs down, but Baloo was still glad he'd taken that second gorilla bird run. But even with all they were doing, the girls managed to put it together after only three months.

When the big day came, Baloo stood in his place by the altar with Louie and Wildcat as his best men. He was nervous, almost ready to chicken out, but with his friends by his side he knew he could see it through. Thinking about what the future held for him and Myriam also helped.

The noon bells rang out and the organ music swelled into the wedding march. "This is it," he thought, straightening his tie. Any second now Myriam would appear out of those doors and walk down that aisle toward him.

But it didn't happen. The organ was playing the music a second time and she still didn't appear. A bad feeling settled into the pit of his stomach as he lumbered up the carpeted aisle, calling out for her and her friends.

When he reached the back, her friends were there but she wasn't. They all spread out across town to look for her, but Baloo already knew where to look. He hurried down to the docks where the Sea Duck waited, the very place he had proposed to her. If any answers awaited him, they'd be there.

The hot sun beat down on him as he ran over the wooden planks, Louie and Wildcat close on his heels. A sparkle of light in one of the wooden posts brought him to a stop. There, wedged in the wood, was the very engagement ring that he'd given her, the symbol of their promise to each other, a promise that was now broken.

Baloo's hand closed over the ring and yanked it from its resting place, showering the water with wooden splinters. He was vaguely aware of Louie and Wildcat trying to comfort him, but he couldn't hear what they were saying with the roar of his blood pounding in his ears. With a cry born of anger and despair, he reared back and flung the ring out into the water, his eyes locked on it until it sank beneath the waves.

"Never again," he growled, shoving past Louie and Wildcat to head for his plane. They tried to stop him, tried to reason with him, but he was far beyond that already. Without another word to them he started the plane up and took off, determined to see the world even if he had to do it alone.

* * *

Baloo opened his eyes as the memories faded away, banished back to the depths of his mind. As soon as he'd gotten back from his world tour of drinking, carousing, and carrying on, he'd spent what little money there was left on a little shack by the docks that he'd turned into Baloo's Air Service. Wildcat had turned up one day and built himself a little workshop at the edge of one of the piers and Baloo hadn't the heart to turn him away. Besides, he had built those sweet overdrive engines for the Duck in return.

He hadn't really cared about the business, but it was a way to kill time and keep out of trouble. That was why he took a loan on it in the first place, not realizing that his plane was part of the package. All to keep himself from being tied down, a fight he thought he was still fighting.

As much as he hated to admit it, he'd already been tied down hadn't he? As soon as he'd accepted Kit into his life he was forced to think about someone other than himself. He'd even given up the occasional alcohol he drank just so he wouldn't be a bad role model. The kid had a lot of dreams and he'd need a sober head to reach most of them.

It hadn't taken more than a couple days for Molly to worm her way into his heart, and she wasn't ever leaving. But then, he didn't think anyone in the world, with the exception of maybe Shere Khan, could resist the charm of that pigtailed button-nose. And even that was debatable on the right days. She had a heart of gold and the fur to match.

Then there was Rebecca. He'd be lying if he said he had no feelings for his boss. He'd been hard pressed to ignore them in the weeks since Kit's injury, but he thought he'd been doing a good job. He'd hoped they'd die down now that Kit was back in school and he wasn't around her as much. But that didn't matter anymore.

All that mattered now was if everyone in his life was enough to make him put himself on the line just one more time. Kit...Molly...Rebecca.... "Now that's a dumb question if I ever thought of one," he muttered, leveraging his body off the bench.

Back at Higher for Hire, Rebecca's tears had not stopped since Kit had started his story. "How could she?" she whispered once Kit had finished. "How could she just...leave him like that?"

"I wish I knew," Kit said, sinking back further into Baloo's chair. "But now I understand why Baloo was so hurt when it looked like I had turned my back on him the first time with the Air Pirates."

Rebecca just couldn't form a reply to that. This went against so much of what she thought about Baloo, yet it all made perfect sense. A part of her wished she still didn't know because she knew she would forever look at him differently now. But there was no way to unlearn it so all she could do was hide the fact that she knew.

Both her and Kit flinched when the door opened and Baloo walked in, looking as angry and serious as he had when he'd left. "So," he said in a resigned voice at odds with his expression, "how do we make this work?"

TO BE CONTINUED


	4. You're Getting What?

"For Kit's Sake"  
Authors: Robert Brown

Disclaimer: This story uses characters created and copyrighted by Disney (except where noted, in which case they were created and copyrighted by us or by another and we have permission to use them). The authors hereby give permission for this story to be downloaded and/or printed at 1 copy per user as long as (1) no changes to the story are made without our express written(not e-mailed) permission and (2) no attempt is made to profit from this story. If either or both rules are violated, it will be considered a violation of copyright law.

Chapter 4: You're getting...what?

The air was so quiet inside Higher for Hire that you could have heard a pin drop. "Didn't you hear me?" Baloo asked, a little anger returning to his voice. "How do we make this cockamamie plan work?"

"Baloo?" Kit ventured. "You mean you're-"

"I'm not happy about it," the big bear cut in. "I'm not happy about it one bit. But there ain't much I can do about it now. Even if I could come up with something better, those suits would know something's up the moment I tried to change the story. Whether I like it or not, it's this or nothing.

"And besides," he continued, his expression softening as he looked at Kit, "you're my boy. There's no way anyone's taking you away from me until I do everything I can to keep you. And even then, they'll have to pray you out of my hands to get you away from me."

A few tears found their way to Kit's eyes and he couldn't be bothered to wipe them away. He'd always known Baloo cared about him like a son, but it was something that mostly went unsaid. Tonight would be a special memory for him to treasure, especially if this plan didn't work out.

He went to lunge at Baloo and give him the biggest hug he had ever given anyone, but he was beaten to the punch. "I'm so sorry Baloo!" Rebecca cried, crying into his shirt as she hugged him. "If I'd known what this meant to you, I never would've suggested it. Can you ever forgive me?"

"If you'd known..." Baloo repeated, trying to figure out what she was talking about. When he did, his face turned absolutely murderous. "Where is Wildcat," he ground out, gently trying to pry Rebecca off his shirt.

"He didn't squeal Papa Bear," Kit spoke up, hoping to defuse Baloo's anger. "I did. And it doesn't matter how I know. The fact is that I do and Miz Cunningham needed to as well. I mean, I thought for sure you'd say no."

Baloo gave Kit a lopsided smile and pulled Kit into the hug Rebecca still had not let go of. "Didn't I learn ya?" he muttered, smiling at the memories that line brought. "This ol' Papa Bear would do anything for his Li'l Britches." Kit just smiled, letting the tears fall.

The three stayed like that until Rebecca pulled from the embrace. "I need to go get Molly," she explained, wiping away her own tears. "The babysitter's probably going spare by now dealing with her. I need to explain to her what's going on anyway. I don't want her telling things to the wrong people."

"Just tell her I'm depending on her," Kit said, rubbing the back of his neck shyly. "She'll be extra careful if you let her know how important it is."

She gave a rueful chuckle at his words. "Oh don't you worry mister; I've learned my lesson about that. We'll talk more about this tomorrow, OK Baloo?"

"Fine by me Beckers," Baloo answered. "Could you do me a little favor though? Could you watch Kit for the night?"

Rebecca exchanged a confused look with Kit before they both shrugged. "I don't mind at all Baloo, but why?"

"I need me a Best Man, don't I? Might as well try to explain this to Louie now before I lose my nerve."

"Can I be ringbearer?" Kit chimed in.

"Like I'd want anyone else," Baloo and Rebecca said together, making them laugh nervously. "I'll be by to pick him up when I get back," Baloo said, heading for the door. "Oh, and make sure he does his homework!" Baloo couldn't help but laugh as he heard Kit scramble up the stairs.

He opened the door to the Sea Duck and hefted his bulk into the pilot's seat. He began to start the engines but just took a moment to sit there. At one time, this plane was supposed to be the gateway to a new and exciting life of marriage. In a way, it had fulfilled the promise he'd placed in it, just waiting a few years to do so. The irony of it all was not lost on him.

Meanwhile, at Louie's Bar and Gas, the party was still in full swing. Even though it had been meant to help cheer Baloo up, it had taken on a life of its own and didn't look like it would stop any time soon. With all the food and drink he was selling, Louie was sure that when the night's tally was totaled, it would be one of his best nights since he opened the place. "I really need to do this more often!" he thought, dishing up another of his famous Krakatoa Specials.

He was about to head to the cooler in the back to refill the bar on wild cherry ice cream when the door opened and the guest of honor reappeared. "I thought you went home for the night, Fuzzy?" he called over the loud music, motioning Baloo over. "You got that delivery in the morning, remember?"

Baloo sat down on the bar stool, giving his back a little stretch to work out a kink. "Hey Louie," Baloo said, leaning over with his elbows on the bar. "Can we go somewhere and talk for a bit?"

Louie looked at him, using one of his long arms to scratch his back, an ability that left most of his patrons envious. "You're joking, right Cuz? This is my busiest night in a long time! I can't leave the bar alone to talk!"

"I'm getting married."

At the "M" word, Louie dropped the bottle he had just picked up on the floor. Heedless of the glass shards at his feet, he slowly placed his hands on the bar. "I know I didn't hear you right Baloo," he said in a low voice that was scary by how much Baloo could still hear it over the music. "You want to repeat that now? Word by word?"

Baloo took a deep breath and looked his longest and best friend right in the eyes. "I'm. Getting. Married."

Louie took off like a shot for the stage, not caring who or what he knocked over to get there. "Listen up!" he yelled into the microphone as he pulled it off the stage. "The bar is closed! Everybody out!" Silence and uncertain snickers met his words and Louie glowered at them, climbing on top of the drumset so that everyone could see him. "I'm not joking! Everyone that ain't gone in five minutes will never be allowed in this place again!"

All was silent for about thirty seconds before the mad rush for the door began. Baloo had to dive over the bar and take cover so as not to be carried away by the tide, so to speak. He'd never seen so many people move so fast in his life!

Louie had given them five minutes, but the place was a ghost town in three. "Now then Baloo," Louie said in a sweet voice that made Baloo want to run for the door, "you better sit your fuzzy butt down and explain everything to me right now. And no funny stuff either, you got me? You better not hold anything back."

"I owe you that much at least," Baloo agreed, shuffling over to a chair and sitting down so quickly that it creaked under his weight. "You already know most of the story, but let me bring you up to speed on the rest of it."

As Baloo began his explanation, another talk was just finishing up in Cape Suzette. "You understand now honey?" Rebecca asked, brushing out her daughter's hair as they sat in front of her vanity. "We have to do this for Kit, but everyone has to think it real. You can't tell anyone about this or they'll take Kit away."

Molly watched her mother in the mirror, her face unusually serious for her age. "Don't worry Mommy, I won't tell," she promised. "I won't let anyone take Kit from us."

"That's my brave girl," Rebecca whispered, kissing the top of her head. "Come on now, off to bed with you."

Molly turned and gave her mom a quick kiss on the cheek before hopping down to the floor and scampering off toward her room. She paused at her mother's doorway, seeing Kit on the couch working hard at his homework. "Mom," she started in a small voice, "if you marry Baloo and the adoption happens, won't that make Kit my...brother?"

It only took a second for Rebecca to know why her daughter asked that question. Two very different answers sprang to her lips and she had to take a moment to think them over. If she told Molly that Kit would be her brother, it would be the end of her little crush. But...could she devastate her daughter with a lie? Especially a lie that would likely be found out one day?

"Not quite," she said, forcing herself to get the words out. "He would be your step-brother, meaning he would be legally, but not where it would count for something like...marriage." It had been hard to say that out loud, but the big smile on Molly's face made the effort more than worthwhile.

Smiles were hard to come by at Louie's place though. Baloo hadn't gotten much past the threat to take Kit when Louie started ranting and raving at the top of his lungs. Only after Baloo got the whole tale out did Louie finally wind down. "Man Baloo, I can't believe you're in this situation," he said, pulling up a chair with a tired sigh. "Seriously man, I thought you'd be-"

"That's not me anymore," Baloo cut him off. "You should know that from when I burned out the overdrive on the Duck. He didn't abandon me then, and I'm not going to abandon him now."

"Wow, you really have changed Baloo," a decidedly feminine voice called from the back of the room. "But then I had a feeling that the kid was changing you the last time I saw you."

Both Baloo and Louie swung around to look at the uninvited guest, relaxing only slightly when they saw who it was. "Plane Jane," Louie muttered as he smacked his face. "I thought I ordered everyone out?"

"I was in the powder room," she said, shrugging him off. "You don't get me out of there until I'm ready to go."

Louie opened his mouth to tell her off, but Baloo stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "I trust Jane," he said, swiveling his gaze over to her. "She and I have been through a lot together over the years. You're not going to make me regret that, are you?"

"I'm hurt Baloo," Jane said playfully, but there was an undercurrent in her voice that said maybe she really was. "Like you said, we've gone through too much for you to be questioning me now. If you need any help or anything, just let me know. And I do mean anything."

Baloo cocked his head to the side, smiling as a thought occurred to him. "You know what Jane? I think I might just take you up on that offer."

TO BE CONTINUED


	5. Making it look real

"For Kit's Sake"  
Authors: Robert Brown

Disclaimer: This story uses characters created and copyrighted by Disney (except where noted, in which case they were created and copyrighted by us or by another and we have permission to use them). The authors hereby give permission for this story to be downloaded and/or printed at 1 copy per user as long as (1) no changes to the story are made without our express written(not e-mailed) permission and (2) no attempt is made to profit from this story. If either or both rules are violated, it will be considered a violation of copyright law.

Quick Author's Note: I apologize for the delay, but so much has happened to me since the last update, it's just not worth going into here. Trust me that I would not have taken so much time off writing if I didn't think it absolutely necessary to deal with my own demons. Fortunately, the worst is behind me now, and I hope to have this story finished before the end of the year. Feel free to poke and prod at me to make sure. To all those that are still reading, Happy Reading!

Chapter 5: Making it (look) real

Bright morning sunlight streamed through the eastern facing window of the bedroom that Rebecca Cunningham currently found herself in. Unlike the fashionable outfits she usually insisted on wearing, sometimes to the point of being useless, she was dressed in an old, discolored blouse and a pair of faded jeans she'd found in the back of her closet. Her hair was carelessly tied back in a ponytail and covered in a tattered bandanna. Anyone she knew would be surprised to see her like this until they noticed her laying drop cloths all around the floor of the room.

She straightened up and stretched out her back, rubbing at a stubborn knot just above her waist that refused to release. It was slow work, but it was all really starting to come together. The same could be said for this whole facade, she realized. So many different pieces in play, some of it beyond her control. But somehow it was still holding together.

A prime example of this was the surprise Baloo sprung on her just one week ago, the same night this whole situation got started. When he came by to pick up Kit, he had an old friend of his in tow by the name of Plane Jane and introduced her as prime maid-of-honor material. Rebecca had been naturally skeptical, knowing Baloo's usual choice in of friends. But Baloo had insisted and Rebecca didn't exactly have many options.

So much of her life was devoted to running her business, raising her daughter, and keeping Baloo in line that there was no time to make friends. Business contacts, clients, and suppliers sure! Friends...no. Until that moment, she hadn't really felt like she'd been missing anything. But now that her attention had been called to it, how could she not have known of this void in her life?

So she had agreed to speak with Jane, and from the first word out of the hippo's mouth she'd just known they were going to be fast friends. She said what she thought without holding back for people's sensibilities. If there was one thing that Rebecca learned quickly, she could count on Plane Jane to speak her mind. And that was something that Rebecca could come to appreciate.

Not that there hadn't been snags along the way. Jane had taken one look at Rebecca's apartment and quickly pronounced it unsuitable for raising a family. "Oh it's nice and all," she said when she'd noticed Rebecca's frown of distaste, "but can you really see a lumbering oaf like Baloo not wrecking this place inside a week? And how do you think Kit will react to having to share a room with Molly?"

Even now, Rebecca thought it wouldn't be such a bad idea as a way to foster more of a sibling relationship between the two. But a growing boy like Kit needed his own space to express himself and not be confronted by Molly's affection for bright colors at every turn. It was no surprise that Kit had chosen a shade of bright green for his walls, with the trim being almost the same color as the sweater he loved to wear.

Her eyes drifted over to her fiancé, though it still made her shudder to call Baloo that. Still, it was something she'd have to get used to if they were going to make this work. Especially since they'd have to... No, this was not the time to think about that. Quite honestly, there never would be a time to think about that. Best to just focus on what she was doing here and now and let everything else fall into place.

She'd gone househunting the day after meeting Jane and found a nice two story fixer-upper with a spacious attic for sale. Her mind immediately had pointed out that it had plenty of room for all four of them and that the attic could be converted to a nice home office space for her. It did need a lot of work, but it was solidly made and had so much potential that Rebecca could not help but agree to purchase it. The large front and back yards only added to her love for the place.

Her next stop had been the bank to find a way to finance the purchase. Higher for Hire provided her with a decent amount of capital, as did the Sea Duck. Baloo had said that he was willing to do anything to keep Kit with them; and she took him at his word. With her negotiating skills, she was able to secure a mortgage for ninety percent of the cost of the house with payments she could easily make as long as they didn't lose any business.

The only problem was that she had only enough cash on hand to pay the down payment of ten percent or to fix and furnish the place. No matter which way she'd turned the numbers, it always came up the same: they just could not make it work. It had been one of the hardest things she'd done in a long time to tell Baloo about her failure, made only worse by how close she had come to pulling it off.

Instead of the expected anger or disappointment, Baloo had just walked out of the office and over toward one of the storage buildings in the back of the property. Curious, she had followed him to see what he was up to. By the time she'd gotten there, he was pulling a metal strongbox out from under a couple of loose floorboards.

Nothing could have prepared her for what she had seen in that box. Money, and a lot of it! She had been able to tell just from the first look that Baloo had saved up more than enough to buy back the Sea Duck, so why hadn't he? "Where are we going to go after this?" he'd asked, reading her look perfectly. "If I just bought back the Duck, it wouldn't be long till we were in debt all over again. I wanted to be sure Kit had something to look forward to once we left is all. So don't read nothing into this that ain't there!"

Despite his warning, Becky had known just what he was talking about. Baloo may not like being ordered about on a daily basis, but Higher for Hire was his home. He didn't want to leave it just as much as she didn't want him to leave. Of course, he would never admit to it if she said it, so she simply leaned up and kissed his cheek in gratitude. Her lips lingered for just a moment longer than was absolutely necessary, drawing an embarrassed blush from the both of them.

After counting through it, Rebecca had found that Baloo not only had enough saved up for the down payment, but that they could fix and furnish every room of the house. This was a huge relief to her; she could save the cash on hand for the first few mortgage payments, giving them a much needed safety net.

Then Baloo had surprised her again by insisting that he fix up the house himself. There were certain things he couldn't do of course, like the plumbing and the wiring, but Baloo's efforts saved them so much money that Rebecca had been able to splurge a little and get the best contractor in the Cape Suzette. Between the work Baloo did and the high quality of the workers she had been able to employ, the main work had been done.

Which was what brought her to the here and now. Baloo had done his best to fix up the house; now it was time to make it a home. The furniture had all been ordered; both Kit and Molly had taken an active part in decorating their rooms.

Baloo had been almost apathetic about the whole thing, only caring that he had a place to sleep and a place to eat. So she had set about choosing the decor, finally settling on dark-stained oak. She had to admit, it did remind her of him: unusual, but always dependable. But that wasn't why she had picked it out. No, of course it wasn't. Of course.

"OK Beckers," Baloo said, startling her out of her thoughts. "The paint's all mixed up and ready to go."

Rebecca nodded and adjusted the dropcloths, making sure that the whole floor was covered. "OK Baloo," she said, shaking off her daydreams as he poured the paint into the waiting pans. "Grab a roller and get to work buster!" she ordered, feeling more comfortable slipping back into her boss role

Painting was not a favorite activity for either of them. Anytime they had been forced into it in the past it had been dull and tedious at best. But today, buoyed by good conversation and better company, it was more fun than work.

As the afternoon approached, Rebecca had finished the wall she was working on and was focusing on the trim near the floor. She had chosen a smaller brush to avoid messing up the paint still drying on the wall. It was taking longer to do this little bit than it had the rest of the wall, but she knew the finished product would be worth it.

She was so intent on her work that she almost didn't notice the feel of something wet hitting her hair right where it peeked out from under her bandanna. She looked up, hoping it wasn't a leak that would ruin all their work, and ended up catching a drop of paint right on her nose. "Baloo!" she squealed, crawling out from under the paint roller he was using on the ceiling.

Baloo noticed the green in her hair and on her nose and laughed so hard his considerable belly shook. Aww, what's the problem Becky?" he teased, reaching out to smear the pain across the fur of her muzzle. "Green is such a good color on you!"

Rebecca almost growled as she stared cross-eyed at the streak of green just under her eyes. Acerbic and angry words rose to her lips, but she bit them back as a wonderful idea occurred to her. Before Baloo even saw it coming, she swiped her brushup, giving Baloo a dark green beard. "I don't know Baloo," she giggled, rubbing her chin as if she were contemplating a work of art. "I think it looks much better on you!"

He let out a growl souding very similar to hers, only he also dropped down into a four-point stance. "Don't you dare!" she yelped between nervous laughter. She tried to use her fully loaded brush to keep him at bay, but he didn't even consider stopping. He got a face full of paint, but she still got tackled into one of the paint pans.

An all out paint war broke out, getting both them and the whole room covered in varying shades of green. But more than that, the room rang with their laughter and their playful promises of retribution. A few of the neighbors, overhearing things as they passed by the front of the house, just smiled at the happy sounds and remarked on how nice it would be to have such a loving family in their neighborhood.

After about fifteen minutes, Rebecca managed to jump onto top of a supine Baloo, straddling his large stomach with a full can of paint in her hands. "Give up Baloo!" she said, laughing as she held it over his face. "Or do you want to be spitting green for a month?"

Instead of rising to her taunts, Baloo reached up and smacked the can of paint over to the other side of the room. Before she could grab something else, he wrapped his large arms around her and pulled her down on him, ignoring the slaps she aimed at his paint-covered shirt. He had only done it to stop her from doing any more damage to his fur, but the longer he held her the more he didn't know if he wanted to let her go.

Rebecca's breath caught as she saw the laughter in his eyes be replaced by something else, something that made the fur on her neck stand on end. She was no stranger to this look; her husband and the ghost captain had both worn it around her often enough. With a lurch of her stomach, she realized that Baloo was about to kiss her. What was even more shocking as his face neared hers, was the realization that she wanted him to.

"Umm, excuse me!"

At the familiar and rather unwelcome voice, Rebecca squirmed out of Baloo's embrace to face the source. "Mr. Sripe!" she greeted with a fake smile plastered on her face. "What brings you to our home?"

The wolverine smiled indulgently, recognizing the frustration hidden in Rebecca's voice. "Well, I had heard about you purchasing this house, and I just had to see it for myself. I admit, when I first heard about it, I had my doubts to how real it was."

"Well, as you can see it's certainly not," Rebecca said tightly, feeling her heart race slightly as Baloo came to stand behind her. "If you'd like I could take you on a little tour and show you around."

"That won't be necessary," Mr. Sripe insisted, cleaning his glasses with a handkerchief he produced from his back pocket. "As I said, I had my doubts. Right now, I no longer do. Good day."

An awkward silence followed his departure, one where neither Baloo nor Rebecca could really look at each other. "We'd...better fix this mess," Baloo mumbled, picking up his roller and almost attacking the walls with it.

Rebecca knew that he was frustrated, but she was afraid to know just why, and that frustrated her in turn, making the silence grow. She watched the back of her fiancé for a moment, feeling herself shake at the thought again. But where just a little while ago it had been a disturbing shudder, now it felt more like a pleasurable shiver.

Despite some setbacks, including the new awkwardness that had sprung up between the engaged couple, it only took a week to get the house fully ready to move into. They wanted nothing more than to rest for the remaining forty- eight hours until the wedding, but the rest of the wedding party did not share that sentiment. Without any warning, Baloo was commandeered one night by Louie and a bunch of regulars from his bar. Which of course left Rebecca open to be kidnapped by Plane Jane and her friends.

And that was how she found herself surrounded by a bunch of female pilots, having the time of her life. It didn't take her long to learn two things about them. Number one, they loved to drink and could probably hold their own with any man. Number two, they all had embarrassing stories about Baloo, which they were all too happy to share with her. Each and every one was carefully tucked away in her memory for future use.

After one particularly funny story, in which Baloo and Louie had somehow ended up being used as shark bait by a tribe of water-worshipping pygmy shrews, Rebecca felt an elbow nudge her gently in her side. "Hey, are you OK?" Plane Jane asked her softly, just so Rebecca could hear her.

"I'm having a great time," she answered, tilting her head to the side curiously. "Why, does it not look like I am?"

"Well, no," Jane said slowly, "but you're still nursing the same drink I gave you when we got here."

Rebecca gazed down at the brightly colored cocktail in her hands and shrugged. "I just want to remember this night. I'm afraid if I drink too much I won't remember a thing."

That set everyone off laughing, much to Rebecca's consternation. "Oh lighten up hun!" a panther who bore an undeniable resemblance to the many pilots of Shere Khan told her except that she was very obviously female. "This is one night you're supposed to not worry about anything like that!"

"And besides," Jane chimed in, holding up a brand new Puma Special 127 camera. "That's what pictures are for! Trust me Becky, even if you don't remember, there's no way we'd let you forget it!"

Rebecca looked from the drink in her hands, to the camera Jane held, around the room at all the encouraging smiles, and then back down at her drink. "Well, in that case," she said, screwing up her courage and downing the fruity drink in one gulp, "let's get this party really started!"

TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
